


The Other World

by schizoidnightmares



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:40:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27254329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schizoidnightmares/pseuds/schizoidnightmares
Summary: During the annual joy parade, a little girl discovers a different side to her idyllic town.





	The Other World

It's that time of the year again... The sun is shining... The sky is a clear azure... Young and old smiles are out in full... A striking rainbow arches over the town... Joyful fit bodies rollerblade down the streets, waving rainbow stripes as they surf the inclines... Confetti rains on the cheering crowds as laughter and music smothers the air...

A young girl holds her father's hand as they skip down the sidewalk. Something catches her attention in the corner of her eye. She stops and stands still, trying to concentrate her eyes as mobs of gleaming skin march by. Her eyes focus on a grey fence blocking off access to an alleyway on the other side of the street. Her sight trails up it and reaches barbed wire... She frowns.

Her father looks down at her.

She lowers her focus and dares to look beyond the wire-mesh. A world reveals beyond—desaturated and devoid of lively colour, with piles of inorganic waste. Black plastic bags line the walls and spill out across the alley's floor... Wires with hanging stained rags connect either side of the alley... A clogged sewer grate collects old sludge, rainbow-coloured straws and discarded cups float amidst... She notices a moving figure deeper in, it is obscured by a thick moving fog of dark flying insects...

Her father, bemused, nudges her shoulder.

The figure trips and collapses onto the wet floor... It crawls, inching itself closer to the bottom of the fence. Black hands grasp the chain-mesh... Tired eyes look up at the passersby... They remain oblivious, their attention focusing on each other and the direction of the flow... Its eyes continue to dart around, and then, they meet the girl's.

Her father looks across the street to where her daughter stares. He promptly picks her up and places her on his shoulders. Gleefully, he carries on and the two disappear with the current of joy.


End file.
